This Issue: House Leadership deserves much credit for getting H.R. 2 passed. Vigilance needed during appropriations process.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023. As described in a coalition letter signed by NumbersUSA, H.R. 2 "represents the strongest border security and enforcement legislation put forth to date." Getting this bill through the House was a major victory.

Even getting a vote on it in the Senate will be a tall task, and President Biden is sure to veto the legislation if it were ever to reach his desk. Nevertheless, H.R. 2 is not just a messaging bill. It's a marker that sets the bar for what it means to begin to fix the "broken immigration system."

Immigration is a top issue with voters heading into a presidential election, with the Democrats facing a tough battle to retain their Senate majority. Voters greatly disapprove of the job President Biden is doing on immigration. Right now, we need our allies in the Senate to press for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to take up H.R. 2 by maintaining the House's position that border security and immigration enforcement is not part of a compromise for amnesty, more guest workers, or an increase in the number of green cards handed out every year.

What makes H.R. 2 a milestone piece of legislation is that it bucks the conventional wisdom in D.C. that effective border security can only come as part of "comprehensive immigration reform," which has come to mean amnesty and legal immigration increases up front with an empty promise to crack down on illegal immigration at some point in the future. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) made that point this week in a hearing on border security when she told the former chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, "You're not going to get border security coming first."

Much credit must be given to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.). Despite some resistance within their own caucus, they shepherded H.R. 2 through three committees and onto the House floor and kept the bill largely intact.

H.R. 2 includes child labor protections, E-Verify, and parole and asylum abuse reforms, as well as improvements in border infrastructure. With the passage of H.R. 2, McCarthy, Scalise, and Emmer made it clear that this is not the same GOP leadership that in the past has actually sabotaged strong immigration reform efforts. Moving forward, there is much cause for optimism about the fight for genuine immigration reform, no matter what happens with H.R. 2 before the midterms.

Of course, with Congress there is always the threat that terrible immigration provisions will be inserted into an appropriations bill, especially when members think the public isn't paying close attention. That's what we have to guard against in the negotiations over the current appropriations legislation, with the media concentrating exclusively on whether Speaker McCarty and President Biden can come to an agreement about raising the debt ceiling before the federal government defaults on its debts.

We are working with Appropriations Committee staff and members and are hopeful that they will come together on a DHS appropriations bill that we can support.

Check your Action Board to see if your Representative is on the Appropriations Committee. If so, urge them to oppose including any immigration and guestworker expansions.

Eric Ruark, Director of research